How to go from IELTS Writing 6.5 to 7.0

What the descriptors say at 6.5 versus 7.0

IELTS scores writing on four equally weighted criteria: task response (task achievement in Task 1), coherence and cohesion, lexical resource, and grammatical range and accuracy. Your band is the average of the four, so a 7 needs either all four at 7 or a 6 balanced by an 8, which is rare. The official public band descriptors are on ielts.org.

Task response: at 6 the position is relevant but the conclusions may be unclear; at 7 the position is clear throughout and every main idea is extended and supported. Coherence: at 6 cohesive devices are used but sometimes mechanically; at 7 there is a clear central topic in each paragraph. Lexical resource: 7 uses less common words with some awareness of collocation and only occasional errors. Grammar: at 6 errors are frequent but rarely block meaning; at 7 the majority of sentences are error-free.

The three errors that cap a 6.5

First, a position that drifts. The introduction says partly agree, body one agrees, body two disagrees, the conclusion says it depends. Pick a side, or state a two-part position in one sentence, and repeat it in the conclusion in different words.

Second, paragraphs with two ideas. A band 7 body paragraph has one claim, an explanation, an example and a link back to the question. If your paragraph has two topic sentences, it is two paragraphs, and neither is developed.

Third, one grammar error per sentence. Articles, subject-verb agreement, comma splices and mixed conditionals are the usual four. Errors that block meaning are not the issue at 6.5; frequency is. Cut sentence length until the error rate drops, then rebuild.

A four-week plan

Week 1: write four Task 2 essays under time and get each scored on all four criteria. Do not read the scores as a band; read them as which criterion is lowest. That criterion is the plan.

Week 2: fix the lowest criterion in isolation. For grammar, rewrite one scored essay removing every error, then write the next essay using only sentence shapes you can control. For task response, write outlines only: position, two claims, one example each, for ten prompts.

Week 3: two full essays a week, each scored, plus one Task 1. Track the error count per 100 words; band 7 essays sit around two or three.

Week 4: timed practice under exam conditions, 40 minutes for Task 2 and 20 for Task 1, with five minutes reserved for checking articles, agreement and tense. Most 6.5 to 7 jumps happen in the checking time, not the writing time.

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